Storage rack



Oct. 7, 1969 w. F. NETTYEKOVEN 3,471,030 I STORAGE RACK Filed 0012. 3Q,1967 I NVENTOR. 4 Mum/11f fifm'xamv U iwd t m 4 ABSTRACT OF DISCLOSURE IA'storage racik havinga plurality of shallow open compartmentstoaccommodatethin rectangular reel cases in vertical juxtapositiom Acentral slot in the floor of. each compartment accepts circular reelswhich. areheld in a vertical position by" virtue of a flat spring meansat the edge of each slotwhichpresses-the reel against rigid, guide meansat the other edge of the slot-The entirefrack may be molded of plastiqinone piece. a v

' Background of the invention Users of audio tape recorders have longbeen concerned with the problem of'storingreels of recording tape.Commonly a reel to be stored is placed in a rectangularcontainer whichis put on a flat shelf along with similar containers like a set ofbooks. Often the user would prefer not to usethe container,-butif he.puts-the reel on its edge alongside the boxes, it may fall and;break.Even if the user always places a reel in a containerbefore 3,471,030Patented Oct 7,

tions. Preferably, means are provided to hold the reel front above thefloor for easy removal of the reels and reel containers, without dangerof the containers being accidentally knocked off the rack.

Brief-description of the drawing FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of arack which is a preferred embodiment of this invention molded of plasticin one piece; a tape reel and reel container are schematically shown instorage position;

FIGURE 2 is a cross section along line 2-2 of FIG- URE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a cross section along line 33 of FIG- URE 2. I In theembodiment shown in FIGURES l-3, the storage rack 10 includes a flatfloor 11, thin side partitions 1 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and 12e and rearpartition 13. Each adjacent pair of side partitions 12 and rearpartition "13 together with the floor 11 form a shallow open compartmentof a width and length to snugly accommodate a rectangular reel container14 of standard size. Projections 15, 16 on the rack 10 cooperate withrecesses (not shown) putting it on the'shelf, removalof one containersometimesaccidentally causes an adjacent container, to, fall.

Accordingly, there has long been a need for more convenient means forstoring re els of recording tape, and the present invention is" dir dtothat need.

-' Summary of the'ihve'ntion" I rack can be inexpensive inasmuch as itcan be molded as a single piece. ofplastic using a conventionalitwopiece mold involving no moving parts. The cost is sufiiciently low topermit one to purchase suflicientracks for his entire collection ofrecording tapes, including racks of different size for the difierentsize reels which one may possess. Since standard 7-inch and 5-inch reelspredominate, two rack sizes should usually be sufficient.

The rack of the present invention has a flat floor and thins side andrear partitions which provide a plurality of shallow open compartments,each of which will snugly accommodate a rectangular reel container of astandard size. The floor is cut away to provide a rectangular slot ineach compartment. Each slot has a width slightly exceeding the thicknessof a standard reel or the thickness of the reel in a dust cover. Thelength of the slot is less than the diameter of the reel so that anappreciable portion of the reel extends beneath the floor when placed ina slot. At least 5 but not more than A of the diameter of the reelshould extend beneath the floor. Downward projections from both sides ofeach slot hold the reel in a substantially vertical position. In apreferred embodiment, the downward projections are a rigid guide at oneedge of the slot and a flat leaf projection at the other edge which actsas a spring means to press the reel against the surface of the rigidguide to lightly clamp the reel in a vertical position. Also extendingdownward from the floor are leg means for supporting the rack of a fiatsurface such that reels mounted in the slot do not touch the surface.Most conveniently, the leg means are provided by downward extensions ofthe rear and outer side partithe reel 19. e

in the contaner 14to insure that the container remains in position untillifted from the rack. In order to permit the storage rack to be moldedin one piece, the floor 11 is provided with an opening 17 immediatelybeneath each projection 16. v

The floor 11 is cutaway in each compartment to provide 'a central slot18 of a width which easily accommodates the thickness of atape reel 19of standard size, either by itself or enclosed by a close-fitting dustcover as schematically illustrated in FIGURE 1. The length of the slotis such that approximately one-sixthof the diameter of the reel extendsbelow the floor as may be seen in FIG URE 2. The'slot 18 is preferablytapered at its lengthwise extremities 20-to conform to the circularperiphery of At one edge of each slot 18 is formed a flat leaf-21 whichextends from the floor 11 downward and inward toward the slot atan'angle of about 2 degrees from the vertical as shown in FIGURE 3. Atthe opposite edge of each slot,the rack 11 is formed with a rigid guide22 or 23. The surfaces 24 and 25 of the guides 22 and-23, respectively,which face the slot extend inward toward the slot in a straight lineinclined about 2 degrees from the vertical. Since the leaf 21 is notbraced, it is free to flex and thus act as a spring means to press thereel 19 against the opposing rigid guide 22 or 23 to hold the reel 19 ina vertical position.

It will be appreciated that the shape of the leaves 21 and the angle ofinclination of the guide surfaces 24, 25 are not critical as long as thereel 19 is not compressed to the extent that the flanges of the reel arepressed against tape wound on the reel. Angles of about 0 to 5 degreesfrom the vertical for the guide surfaces 24, 25 and from about /2 to 10degrees for the fiat leaves 21 are considered to be suitable, and thespring means may even extend further into the space beneath the slot 18if it is sufliciently resilient that tape wound on the reel is notdamaged.

The outer side partitions 12a and 12a and the rear partition 13 extendbelow the floor 11, as does a face 26 from the front edge of the floor,to provide leg means to permit the rack to stand on a fiat horizontalsurface. These leg means should extend downward a distance sufficient tomaintain a clearance between the reel 19 and any flat surface on whichthe rack may be placed.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art of molding plastics,the rack 10 may be molded in a simple two-piece mold having no movingparts. The mold halves essentially separate at the floor 11 except forupward offsets to the projections 16 and downward offsets along the 3reel-contacting surfaces of the springs 21 and the guide surfaces 24,25.

I claim:

1. A rack (10) for storing a plurality of circular reels (19) of a givensize and then rectangular containers (14) for said reels in randomvertically juxtaposition, which rack is adapted to be molded of plasticin a single piece and comprises:

a floor (11) and thin side (12) and rear (13) partitions defining aplurality of shallow open compartments, each of which will accommodate asaid rectangular container,

said floor being cut away in each compartment to provide a rectangularslot (18) having a width slightly exceeding the thickness of a said reeland a length somewhat less than the reel diameter so that at least 4 butnot more than A of the diameter of the reel extends beneath the floorwhen a said reel is placed in the slot,

means (21, 22, 23) at both sides of each slot projecting downward fromsaid floor to hold in a substantially vertical position a reel which isplaced in the slot,

leg means (12a, 12e, 13, 26) extending downward from said floor at leastas far as a said reel protrudes beneath the floor when placed in a slot.

2. A rack as defined in claim 1 which is a single piece of moldedplastic.

3. A rack as defined in claim 1 including projections (15, 16) adaptedto fit into corresponding recesses in a said reel container (14) forinsuring against the container being accidentally knocked 01f the rack.

4. A rack as defined in claim 1 wherein the downward projecting meansconsist of a rigid guide (22, 23) at one edge of each slot (18) andspring means (21) normally inclined from the other edge of the slottoward the rigid guide means to press the reel against the rigid guidemeans.

5. A rack as defined in claim 4 wherein said spring means 21 is a fiatleaf, the reel-contacting surface of which is normally inclined /2 to 10degrees from the vertical.

6. A rack as defined in claim 4 wherein said rigid guide means (22, 23)has a surface (24, 25) extending downward from the edge of the slot (18)in a straight line inclined 0 to 5 degrees from the vertical toward thespring means.

7. A rack as defined in claim 4 wherein the reel-contacting surfaces ofthe spring means (21) and of the rigid guide means (22, 23) are eachnormally inclined toward the other from the edge of the slot about 2degrees from the vertical. 7

8. A rack (10) for storing a plurality of circular reels (19) of a givensize and thinrectangular containers (14) for said reels in randomvertical juxtaposition, which rack is asingle piece of molded plasticand comprises:

a flat floor (11) and thin side (12) and rear (13) partitions defining aplurality of shallow open compartments, each of which will snuglyaccommodate a said rectangular container,

said floor being cut away in each compartment to provide a rectangularslot (18) having a width slightly exceeding the thickness of a said reeland a length somewhat less than the reel diameter so that at least butnot more than A of the diameter of the reel extends beneath the floorwhen a said reel is placed in the slot,

a fiat leaf spring means (21) projecting downward from said floor at oneedge of each slot and inclined into the slot to press against one sideof a reel which is placed in the slot,

a rigid guide means (22, 23) at each slot projecting downward from saidfloor and having a surface (24, 25 extending straight from the edge ofthe slot into the slot-at an angle not exceeding 5 degrees from thevertical to provide a spacing from said leaf spring means which isnormally less than the thickness of a said reel, and

leg means comprising the outer side partitions (12a, 12a), the rearpartition (13) and a front face (26) which extend downward from saidfloor a distance sufiicient to maintain clearance between a reel in saidslot and any flat surface on which the rack may be placed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,813,633 11/1957 Welling 211-412,939,586 6/1960 Dumaine 21141 3,391,792 7/1968 Makar 211- JAMES A.LEPPINK, Primary Examiner

